College football's top 10 greatest teams of all time

If Florida's 2008 team was really the best college football team ever, you'd have a hard time convincing the 1912 Harvard squad.

For one thing, all those players are dead. For another, there's no way to truly settle this kind of dispute.

That's never stopped sports fans from trying, of course. They've spent the past few days arguing the issue, ever since Urban Meyer proclaimed the '08 UF team the greatest ever.

Those Gators have a decent case. They went 13-1, won a national championship and had Tim Tebow on their side.

They also lost at home to Ole Miss. The 1912 Harvard team never lost at home to Ole Miss.

Truth is, a couple dozen teams who could claim the top spot without being laughed off stage. But here are the 10 that really belong.

• 10. Army, 1945

Long ago in a football galaxy far away, Army was the modern-day Alabama. This was Black Knights' second straight unbeaten season. They had two Heisman winners in the backfield – Mr. Inside Doc Blanchard and Mr. Outside Glenn Davis. They outscored opponents 412-46 and beat Notre Dame 48-0.

• 9. FSU, 1999

It was the first team in to ever go wire-to-wire as No. 1 in the country. That alone separates it from the competition. The ACC schedule wasn't fearsome, but FSU beat five top-25 teams and scored at least 30 points in each of those games. Chris Weinke won the Heisman and Peter Warrick was unstoppable when he wasn't shopping at Dillard's.

• 8. Harvard, 1912

Sure, Florida 2008 would beat this squad 191-0. But teams must be judged relative to their eras, and no team rocked the early 20th century quite like Harvard. The Crimson went 9-0 and handed Princeton, Vanderbilt and Yale their only losses of the season. Harvard had 10 All-Americans, which must be some sort of record.

• 7. Syracuse, 1959

The Orangemen had five All-Americans, including running back Ernie Davis. He became an icon when he died of leukemia four years later, but this isn't a sympathy vote. Syracuse outscored its opponents 451-96 and had five shutouts. It didn't play any of the power conference teams until the Cotton Bowl, where it beat Texas 23-14 to finish 11-0.

• 6. Nebraska, 1971

The Cornhuskers had the nation's best offensive player in Johnny Rodgers and two defensive players who'd win the Outland Trophy (Larry Jacobson and Rich Glover). Twelve players made the All-Big Eight team. Nebraska beat the teams ranked 2-3-4 in the final poll, and those teams went 32-1 against the rest of the country. It was capped by a 38-6 demolition of Alabama in the Orange Bowl.

• 5. Oklahoma, 1956

The Sooners were in the middle of a 47-game winning streak. Other than a 27-19 win at Colorado, nobody came within 36 points of Bud Wilkinson's monster. The Sooners averaged 47 points a game and had six shutouts. There have been a lot of great teams in Norman, but none were as dominant as this.

• 4. USC, 1972

Keith Jackson said this was the best team he ever saw. The offense had Pat Haden, Lynn Swann, Charles Young, Marvin Powell and Anthony Davis. The defense was led by Richard Wood, one of 13 players who'd be named All-American while at USC. The NFL would eventually draft 33 of them.

• 3. Alabama, 1961

Maybe the best defensive team in college history. Led by linebacker Lee Roy Jordan, the Crimson Tide allowed 25 points all season. Six opponents didn't score a point. The offense just had to show up, which it did nicely behind All-American quarterback Pat Trammel. A 10-3 win over Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl clinched Bear Bryant's first national title.

• 2. Miami, 2001

The roster read like a future All-Pro squad with names like Ed Reed, Bryant McKinnie, Sean Taylor, Frank Gore, Willis McGahee, Jeremy Shockey, Andre Johnson, Jonathan Vilma, Clinton Portis, Antrel Rolle and Vince Wilfork. Somehow, the Hurricanes almost lost to Boston College and Virginia Tech. If this wasn't the best team ever, it can certainly claim to have been the most talented.

• 1. Nebraska, 1995

Good-guy Tom Osborne swallowed his ethics and let Lawrence Phillips run amok on and off the field. The defense had four linemen who'd be All-Americans. The Big Eight had four top-10 teams that year. Nebraska outscored them 134-49. The season crested with the 62-24 humiliation of Florida in the Fiesta Bowl.